If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyl...fe0722fnp7.asp Tuesday, July 22, 2003 By Betsy Hart Twice in one day last week, I was informed that my 2-year-old daughter has a "sharing problem." First it was by a worker in the church nursery, then later it was a sitter helping out with the kids at our pool. A "sharing problem?" Oh, no! My daughter does, of course, have a fundamental disorder. It's called belonging to the human race. What can sometimes make a 2-year-old throwing a tantrum over not getting his way remotely amusing is that he's about 35 inches and 30 pounds. The same behavior in a 6-foot, 200-pound fellow would be terrifying. And the only thing that keeps the grown-up from having that behavior is civilizing influences that say, "You can't do that." But lately it seems that fewer parents, and very few parenting "experts," want to admit that children need civilizing by their parents and their culture. Rather than recognizing that children are loving, darling, but utterly self-centered creatures who need to be trained away from a naturally tyrannical "me" impulse, our culture has come to think of them as perfectible little dears who just need a nudge here or there in the right direction. In this view, reasoning, building self-esteem and communication should be all that the inherently good little child requires. So, when the kids are still screaming, "Mom, he touched me!" or "No, I won't!" or they're refusing to share toys, it can't be a part of the fallen human condition -- it has to be a "disorder." Thus we have what is today the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children, "oppositional defiant disorder" (ODD). A case study is 4-year-old Marianne, from the Web site of pediatric psychiatrist Dr. James Chandler of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada: "... Marianne begins her day by getting up early and making noise. Her father, unfortunately, has mentioned how much this bothers him. So she turns on the TV, or ... bangs things around until her parents come out. Breakfast is the first battleground of the day. ... She seems to be able to sense how hurried her parents are. When they are very rushed, she is more stubborn and might refuse [breakfast] altogether. It would be a safe bet that she would tell her mom that the toast tastes like poop. This gets her the first time-out of the day." From there, things begin to go downhill. Interestingly, though Marianne throws tantrums all day long with family, she rarely does it at preschool -- as long as the other children do what she wants. Marianne does not have a disorder. She is a child who has learned to control those around her and who displays the thoroughly human tendency of loving every minute of it -- though the odds are she's a miserable child. (We KNOW her parents are miserable.) Marianne needs parents who are willing to assert their authority, live up to their responsibility -- and, for starters, give Marianne a loving spanking. Otherwise, when she's older, she might display what's now called "conduct disorder," though that shouldn't be confused with "disruptive behavior disorder." It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Without, for now, wading too far into the controversy surrounding "attention deficit disorder" (ADD), it's worth noting that even its greatest advocates generally agree that the condition is at least overdiagnosed. Certainly children can have real psychological pathologies and even psychoses. But it's clear that more and more "experts" want to see normal, healthy kids as perfectible, despite all evidence to the contrary. So now kids don't misbehave, or act downright rotten or selfish, they aren't incredibly strong-willed or even just shy anymore -- they have "disorders" that have to be somehow "managed," too often with pharmaceuticals. What's next? "Complaining disorder," "bad attitude disorder," "won't-clean-up-the-room disorder"? Sigh. The ones who lose out are the kids. Back to my daughter with the "sharing problem." I was glad for the insight. Now I can look for more opportunities for her to practice "taking turns" (the best way to explain "sharing") and where she can be lovingly civilized when she refuses to do so. After all, I don't want her "sharing problem" to turn into a "sharing disorder." I will also remind myself, again, that raising and training children is a long, exasperating, joyful, difficult, wonderful, repetitive process; it never ends in perfection, and I'll love and enjoy my kids to pieces anyway. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"JG" wrote in message
... Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted Ooops! Sorry about the big gaps! :-D |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
JG, please stop making a fool of yourself. We have already discussed
that you and others who complain about pediatric psychiatry are frequently misinformed and reveal their ignorance through their protests. People like you with little real experience in the diagnosis and management of various psychiatric conditions can continue to write articles to each other loaded with various amounts of half-truths, misunderstandings, and utter nonsense, and grin at each other as you delude yourselves into thinking that you actually know the truth and that those of us working with children for real are simply fools, but those of us who actually understand these conditions will continue to work on unfazed, just as evolutionists just chuckle and move on when someone protests, "How could a chicken lay an egg and a lizard come out! My grandparents weren't monkeys!!" Read on. On Tue, 29 Jul 2003 22:25:04 GMT, "JG" wrote: Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyl...fe0722fnp7.asp Tuesday, July 22, 2003 By Betsy Hart A former White House spokesperson now mass-media commentator. Twice in one day last week, I was informed that my 2-year-old daughter has a "sharing problem." First it was by a worker in the church nursery, then later it was a sitter helping out with the kids at our pool. A "sharing problem?" Oh, no! My daughter does, of course, have a fundamental disorder. It's called belonging to the human race. Yes, 2-year-old children do have sharing problems. They don't like to share. That's the problem. It's normal. Thus we have what is today the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children, "oppositional defiant disorder" (ODD). Where in the world does she get the idea that ODD is "the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children?" It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Selective mutism in a two-year-old is NOT a "disorder." It is COMPLETELY NORMAL. PF |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"PF Riley" wrote
Thus we have what is today the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children, "oppositional defiant disorder" (ODD). Where in the world does she get the idea that ODD is "the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children?" It ought to be -- just about all kids have it. It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Selective mutism in a two-year-old is NOT a "disorder." It is COMPLETELY NORMAL. The child shrinks consider it a disorder. You can read more about it here. http://www.selectivemutism.org/ |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"JG" wrote in message t...
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyl...fe0722fnp7.asp Tuesday, July 22, 2003 By Betsy Hart It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Holy Cow! This is now a recognized mental disorder? Without, for now, wading too far into the controversy surrounding "attention deficit disorder" (ADD), it's worth noting that even its greatest advocates generally agree that the condition is at least overdiagnosed. Certainly children can have real psychological pathologies and even psychoses. But it's clear that more and more "experts" want to see normal, healthy kids as perfectible, despite all evidence to the contrary. So now kids don't misbehave, or act downright rotten or selfish, they aren't incredibly strong-willed or even just shy anymore -- they have "disorders" that have to be somehow "managed," too often with pharmaceuticals. What's next? "Complaining disorder," "bad attitude disorder," "won't-clean-up-the-room disorder"? Sigh. The ones who lose out are the kids. Well, it's not unheard of for a society to occilate between two extremes. I'm glad to see us move away from the "A good spanking is what he/she needs" mindset that used to be so prevalent, but I'm sorry to see us move so far down the road towards defining such behavior as a *problem* and treating it with pharmaceuticals. It will be interesting to see where we are at in another 50 years or so. Hope I live that long. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"abacus" wrote
It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Holy Cow! This is now a recognized mental disorder? Yes. I thought it might be a joke, but it is listed in the DSM-IV. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
JG wrote:
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted http://www.post-gazette.com/lifestyl...fe0722fnp7.asp Tuesday, July 22, 2003 By Betsy Hart Twice in one day last week, I was informed that my 2-year-old daughter has a "sharing problem." First it was by a worker in the church nursery, then later it was a sitter helping out with the kids at our pool. A "sharing problem?" Oh, no! Let's go back to the old ways and call her a selfish brat. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
Roger Schlafly wrote:
"PF Riley" wrote Thus we have what is today the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children, "oppositional defiant disorder" (ODD). Where in the world does she get the idea that ODD is "the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric condition in children?" It ought to be -- just about all kids have it. It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Selective mutism in a two-year-old is NOT a "disorder." It is COMPLETELY NORMAL. The child shrinks consider it a disorder. You can read more about it here. http://www.selectivemutism.org/ Riley stated that in a two-year-old it i snormal. Nothing on the cited web page refutes that. The webpages, and the links, refer to kids in school. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"PF Riley" wrote in message
... JG, please stop making a fool of yourself. We have already discussed that you and others who complain about pediatric psychiatry are frequently misinformed and reveal their ignorance through their protests. Bwahaha! Are you telling me I'm not behaving properly (let alone *perfectly*!)? Jeez, I must have some sort of DISORDER, huh? g (I mean, like, you know, *denying* that I have any disorder is probably in itself a disorder, right? What's denying that I have a "denial disorder"? Grounds for commitment? ;o) ...Methinks you have PAD (Pompous Ass Disorder), PF! JG The fact that I have no remedy for all the sorrows of the world is no reason for my accepting yours. It simply supports the strong probability that yours is a fake. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Children aren't 'bad' anymore, just afflicted
"Roger Schlafly" wrote in message
t... "abacus" wrote It's hoped she won't show signs of "selective mutism disorder" (seriously), which is when a child who speaks well refuses to talk in certain social situations. As in, "Tell Mr. Smith thank you," and the child digs his heels in and clams up. Holy Cow! This is now a recognized mental disorder? Yes. I thought it might be a joke, but it is listed in the DSM-IV. Betsy Hart hit the nail on the head: If a child isn't perfect--if he/she doesn't perform or behave "perfectly" (according to "experts," I suppose)--it's OBVIOUSLY snicker because of some disorder or another. Of course there are no longer any dumb as dirt, er, "underachieving" kids; if Johnny can't add 2 and 2 together and get 4, it's simply because he has "Mathematics Disorder." (As Dave Barry would say, "I'm not making this up"): http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/disorders/Math.html "What is a mathematics disorder? Students with a mathematics disorder have problems with their math skills. Their math skills are significantly below normal considering the student's age, intelligence, and education. The poor math skills cause problems with the student's academic success and other important areas in the student's life...." (Roger, your kids are probably not susceptible g: "Are there genetic factors associated with a mathematics disorder? It is possible that some people have problems in math because of their genetic makeup. In contrast to some families whose members have great difficulty solving math problems, there are other families who tend to have members that consistently have a very high-level of math functioning.") JG ....everything is too important ever to be entrusted to professional experts, because every organization of such professionals and every established social organization becomes a vested-interest institution more concerned with its efforts to maintain itself or advance its own interests than to achieve the purpose that society expects it to achieve. --Carroll Quigley |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
HALF OF KIDS IN FOSTER CARE NEEDLESSLY | Malev | General | 0 | December 12th 03 03:53 PM |
| | Kids should work... | Kane | General | 13 | December 10th 03 02:30 AM |
Kids should work. | LaVonne Carlson | General | 22 | December 7th 03 04:27 AM |
Helping Your Child Be Healthy and Fit sX3#;WA@'U | John Smith | Kids Health | 0 | July 20th 03 04:50 AM |